Cops allows viewers to ride along with the men and women of law enforcement every week as they take on everything from domestic disputes to car chases. Created by John Langley, the ground-breaking series premiered on March 11, 1989, and has aired over 900 new episodes. The show has followed officers in 140 different cities in the United States and in Hong Kong, London, and the former Soviet Union.

Marvin Kitman

Howard Rosenberg

On the one hand, it's absolutely captivating, raw and unpredictable, a bubbling boiler of excitement rendered in the style of CBS' "48 Hours" and unrivaled by conventional cop dramas in prime time...On the other hand, the camera assumes the disgusting role of hanging judge by prematurely filling the screen with the faces of numerous suspects swept up in drug busts, some of whom may turn out to be innocent or may even go uncharged, for all we know. [7 Jan 1989, p.C1]

Joseph P. Kahn

Be forewarned: Cops may not be everyone's cup of tea. The language is raw, the emotions intense, and some of the scenes, like the one where a homicide unit fishes a cadaver out of a canal, are definitely not for the squeamish. But give credit to Cops' producers. They didn't want "pretty," and they didn't want Armani. They wanted the real stuff. What they got makes "Miami Vice" look like a cop-out. [7 Jan 1989, p.30]

Robert P. Laurence

More compelling than the general run of fictional drama, and often funnier, sadder and more poignant, Cops at first seems to be an unassembled jigsaw puzzle...This is a documentary being pieced together before our eyes. There is a strong, undeniable element of tabloid TV in Cops, of sensationalism and exploitation. But there is more. There is a picture of the toll this kind of work takes on the human beings who do it. Cops may also make television stars of its subjects.[11 March 1989, p.C-11]

Steve Sonsky

An ugly little glimpse into our hometown community...A cinema-verite, hand-held camera walk on the wild side with the Broward County Sheriff's Office.. A televised tour into (Broward's) heart of darkness...It had real energy. It was tense, taut, a video knuckle sandwich. You were with those cops as they chased fleeing perps, wrestled with muscled smugglers. And you couldn't help but be impressed with the heroism and dedication of the men and women on the streets -- Sheriff Nick 'I Never Met A Camera Angle I Didn't Like' Navarro's grandstanding antics notwithstanding. [Jan 1989]